Tuesday, July 23, 2013

As Eminem once said, in real life
there is no Mekhi Phifer.For me, in
self-publishing, as it turns out, there is also no Mekhi Phifer, and also no team
of editors and publishers.Personally, I
am still a bit conflicted as to how I really feel about that.It would be nice to have the backing of a
publisher, editor, and agent.I know my
work would probably come off more polished, maybe.Money and notoriety would be nice too,
without doubt.On the other hand though,
if my goal were to reach as many readers as possible and find a genuine
audience, then it wouldn’t matter if I had the backing of the industry big
dogs. My fan base would be there and
they would be all that I need. Yeah, I’d
be pretty happy with that.

As I’ve said before, my dream would
be to see LA Ninja as a movie.I think
it would be awesome!So that’s my dream,
everybody’s got one, right?I guess deep
inside, when it comes down to it, I just hope that people like LA Ninja, and
soon, Pumps. Now that I think about it,
I guess I’d just be happy if people didn’t think my work was just complete
shit.However, If people turned out to
think my stories were worth dogshit, then I guess I could deal with it.It would be heartbreaking, but I could deal
with it and move on.That reminds me, Rule
of Self: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

By the way, Pumps has so far turned
out to be my best work, in my opinion.And I’m not trying to be arrogant or overconfident, I am just really
proud that I was able to turn a story like that out.It is totally different from LA Ninja, like
big time, but it’s cool.Not so sure the
same audience from LA Ninja is going to like it, but I’m trying to see how much
versatility there is inside me.I also
have some other projects in the works that will take me yet in another
direction, but I’m not even close to working those ones yet.I’ve started LA Ninja II: Rise of the Cartel,
so that one will be coming out next.

Anyways, after that divergence into
left field, the reason I’m writing this puff piece is not to bitch about not
being backed by publishers.Instead,
after taking such a big step back from LA Ninja to work on Pumps, I decided to
go back to it and give it a read, mostly so I could start LA Ninja II with the
first story fresh in my mind.What I
found was appalling.The beginning
chapters flowed slow like molasses.There were tons of typos and grammatical errors, and lastly, the story
was missing one special ingredient that I have since added to my writing
repertoire.So, I got to work on a
revision right away.This is the pitfall
of not having an editor.

Not to dwell too long on the matter,
I revised LA Ninja and republished it to all e-book publishers.The final should get to most bookshelves in a
day or two.This, I promise, will be the
final.I’m apologize to my readers for
making any changes, which, trust me, the story is unchanged except for one
minor addition to the honeymoon scene.The rest of the changes were done to speed the flow of the story in the
first few chapters, cut out some fluff, and fix the shitload of typos that I
found.

Interestingly, I was surprised to
see how far I have come and matured as a writer.I was embarrassed for the beginning of LA
Ninja.The writing seemed so, shall we
say, juvenile?I wonder if I will come
back yet again and find what I’m writing now to be juvenile too?Maybe.I suppose that is how it goes though.

Anyhow, I’m trying to get the
artwork completed for Pumps.I think I
can have that book up and published by mid-August, which would be great.I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks of it.I have a few friends reviewing it now, and
they absolutely love it, so I’m pretty excited about it.In the meantime, LA Ninja II is progressing
well.Things in that story have become
super complicated, in a good way.I’m
pretty excited at the direction it’s moving in.Maybe I can have the first draft done by Christmas.

It’s funny to think about where I’ve
gone with this whole writing thing.I
know when I started this blog, I really thought I would get further with the
publishing people.I thought, at least,
that I would get the chance to send in sample pages or a manuscript here or
there.Since, however, none of that ever
happened, I just kept moving forward by myself.I didn’t think that I’d take it this far, not on my own. I think it’s pretty cool.I’m out here in the world now, aren’t I?(he smiles to himself) –signing off, Adrian

Monday, July 8, 2013

I’ve been
away for awhile, finishing up my novel, titled, “Pumps”.Not like anyone cares or notices (I have no
regular readers or visitors but I pretend I do – haha).That’s why I haven’t posted in awhile though,
because I’ve been feverishly working on my novel, but now it seems like I’m
back. I’ve always said, when you’re in
the zone, you gotta zero in and take advantage.I was definitely in the zone.

So L.A.
Ninja is still doing pretty well as far as I’m concerned.Although I have always hoped that many people
would read it and enjoy the story as I do, it is not really turning out that
way.I guess I have mixed feelings about
it.I try to remain happy that I have
sold any copies at all, and the three reviews that I did get so far are
freaking awesome, so I have to be psyched about that.Right?Ok, I’m cool now, did you enjoy going on that quick emotional breakdown
with me?My head is a scary place to be,
lol.

Interestingly,
after talking with some distant (distant as in they live in New Jersey and were
here to visit) friends over dinner the past weekend, the topic of my novel
writing came up, so of course, I told them about L.A. Ninja.Surprise and shock is the usual reaction I
get, and they did not fail me there.We
did also discuss the fact that I never tell people that I know that I am a
writer.It’s funny really, from a
psychological perspective, on why I never tell anyone about it.It should seem so obvious that I would
immediately tell everyone I know about this this thing that I’m so passionate
about, yet only a few people know about it.You’d think that I’d announce it to the world, right?

But I
don’t.I don’t have a good reason,
either.I think I’m a bit modest and
even a little shy about it.I think it
feels strange to just blurt it out to people too.It never seems natural, like when I’m in the
moment.Then, also, I don’t want them to
feel obligated to go buy it.I wonder
now, as I’m writing this, do artists and singers do the same thing?Like, if I could sing, would I announce it to
my friends?Would I start belting out
Vicente Fernandez songs out of the blue?Would I do it while we’re standing in line at Starbucks?I wonder.I guess that’s why I was never a good salesman, lol.

I digress,
however.I do have something that I’m
very proud of, and that is the first review that I’ve ever gotten.It was written by a reader on Amazon.com:

“Kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time. Excellent
narrative, characters and plot twists. Can't wait for the next one.”

Are you
kidding me!?That was awesome!And I’m so glad that the review was a good
one, in fact the best, with 5/5 stars.I
was so nervous that the review was going to be bad, or that it was going to
trash my work.There is this anxious
fear I have that I will face utter rejection from readers that invest time in
my book.(Maybe that’s why I don’t tell
my friends??)So far, though (knocking
on wood) the three reviews are good.Thanks to Eli, and the others.I
owe you guys a beer, or soda, or tea, or whatever you prefer to drink.I’m glad I didn’t let you down.

Now, onto
Pumps.Pumps represents a huge
divergence from L.A. Ninja.First off,
it’s a book about a woman trying to find herself. You can’t get further away from LA Ninja than
that. I think it’s interesting because
this woman, Alexis, has been a very complicated character for me to write.At least with Gabe, he was very focused and
motivated, which made him easier to write.Alexis though, is emotional and complicated.I was hardly ever sure what she would do
next, whereas with Gabe (protagonist –LA Ninja for those who don’t know) I
pretty much knew what he would do at every turn.

The other
difficult piece was the process of Alexis finding herself.I guess it can be hard for someone –anyone-
to find themselves, that is, find their true purpose in life.It involves someone getting to know their
true self, and becoming clear about what they want out of life.It rarely happens easily, in my
experience.It can happen through trauma
in some cases, or through trial and error.It can happen as easily as having an epiphany in a dream.Usually though, it happens to many of us as
we experience life and get older, finally narrowing down what we like and
dislike in life, and what like to spend our time doing the most. If you can answer those questions, you most likely are already focused on finding true happiness, whatever that may mean to you.

That has been the
hard task for someone like Alexis.She
is in her late twenties, smart, sophisticated, strong, and determined.She has a great career in the fashion
industry, and just when she thinks she has life all figured out, life shows up
to begin unraveling a destiny that she never saw coming.The truth is, the story is a fantasized
version of what I think my wife’s life could have been if she hadn’t married
me. I promised her that I would write this one next, and I finally have.

I am still working the final edits, but the
story is done. I will be publishing it
soon to Amazon and other e-book retailers, same as LA Ninja. Maybe I can earn some new readers with this
one. I hope so.

Puff Piece Hill

Revolution of the Soul. A Mission Statement.

I am by default, and through no fault of my own, different. I’m not out cruising the boulevard on the weekends, blasting oldies-but-goodies with the homies. I am also not listening to rock en Espanol, speaking in Spanish-only with my friends. I could fit into either stereotype perfectly though, and to an outsider, I probably appear to be from either or both worlds. I have brown skin, which is pretty much all it takes. It’s not that simple though, as others like me surely understand. I speak some Spanish but I also speak perfect English. I went to college. I love hamburgers and fries, and hip-hop, and alternative music. I have simply integrated into American culture from the start, because I was born here, and because I wanted to.

I’m glad that I’m not still stuck in Mexico somewhere, growing up a third world existence, which statistically would have been the case, had my familia never come here. But I am glad to have come from a country and peoples with such a rich and vibrant history. There are many reasons having such a heritage is a good thing, and I am proud to be a part of it. I am glad to have been born here in America, and happy to be part of this system. I’m happier yet that I didn’t grow up as a cholo gang-banging, tagger, too-cool-for school type of guy, even though I’ve had plenty of chances, given my surroundings. That subculture is not all bad either, depending on the level of involvement and the choices one makes. In other words, you can look the part without being a thug, or a social, or immigrant, or anything else, que no? This is true of all life.

So even though I am different, I am by no means alone, and I know this. The problem for me is that I’m not seeing enough representation out there in the media. I’m not seeing a lot of works written, or filmed, for people like me. It annoys me, too, for a lot of political reasons, because our image is grossly misrepresented. Sure the gangbanger cholos are fun to include in film, because violence sells. However, that only perpetuates a false image. These days, it seems as though everyone in this country sees us either as cholos or as immigrants that refuse to assimilate, legal or not. This angers me because we are so many different things including a multitude of diversity within our own subculture. It’s pretty frickin’ beautiful, if everyone only knew…

Either way, I decided to make the changes I wanted to see, on my own. I’m writing stories for me, for you, and for everyone else, and my main characters are all Latino, and not just Mexican-Latino either. My stories are not about quinceaneras or growing up as a pocho in high school. They are not about crossing the border, or starting any revolutions. The only revolution I write about is the Revolution of the Soul. My stories are meant to entertain and inspire people, and hopefully many of you will relate to them in one way or another, and see yourselves there in them, wherever that may be.